Virginia Is For Llama Breeders

February 26, 1989|By CHARLES CLARY Staff Writer

NEW KENT — As Don MacQueen approached the western end of a fenced-in portion of his property, the llama with banana ears and a beige coat that stands about 7 feet tall, began walking gently toward him.

The animal ate the grass snack MacQueen held in his hand, turned its long neck inquisitively to a stranger and hummed as he walked away.

MacQueen could have raised horses, sheep or cattle, but he and his wife, Verna, chose to raise llamas because they are gentle, docile animals easy to tame.

Joe and Cathy Wiggins, llama breeders in Charles City County, join MacQueen as part of a growing trend to breed the South American animal in the eastern United States. The llama, a relative of the camel, was a favorite animal in the mountainous terrain of the Andes 4,000 years ago.

Fred Bauer, of the International Llama Association, estimates there are about 25,000 llamas in the United States today, double the association count in 1984.

Bauer, who has 70 llamas on a breeding ranch in Petaluma, Calif., says the attraction for llamas is not hard to understand.

"The main reason is the special relationship that develops between people and their llamas," Bauer said. "They are very calm and have a calming effect on people."

The East Coast trend is evident in Virginia. The Virginia-based Llama Association of Mid-Atlantic States lists about 40 llama ranches in Virginia and only a smattering of ranches in North Carolina. New York probably rivals Virginia for the largest concentration of llamas in the East Coast.

In October, about 70 llamas were presented for show for the first time at the State Fair in Richmond.

Stockbroker George Peoples raises llamas on a ranch in Roanoke. He says that during turbulent times it can be soothing to be around them. When the stock market crashed in October 1987, he found it comforting to leave the office and sit out in the barn with the llamas.

Some people buy the llamas for pets, others buy them for breeding purposes and others, like MacQueen, do both.

The llamas are good investments, they don't eat a whole lot and they are tame.

"They are good companion animals and tame enough for kids to ride while they are led," MacQueen said.

Peoples started raising llamas five years ago when he looked for an alternative to horses.

"They are probably the most gentle animal to work with," says Peoples, who raises 25 llamas on his eight-acre ranch.

He says the llamas are much easier to keep than horses. Peoples once raised quarterhorses. But no more.

"My 25 llamas don't eat any more than three horses," Peoples said.

They are a grazing-type animal. They can be fed hay or grain, and, as a testament to the growing population, Purina recently began marketing Llama Chow.

The trend began on the West Coast in the mid-1970s, says Bauer. Richard and Kay Patterson of Sisters, Ore., among the first domestic breeders, operate one of the largest ranches in the country with about 500 llamas.

Since then, the prices of llamas have quadrupled. The going rate for a male and female llama pair has increased from between $2,000 and $2,500 to about $10,000. That may have a lot to do with why the llama is increasingly associated with the wealthy, although Bauer said male llamas as pets are still available for about $500.

MacQueen said most llama owners he has met are relatively successful, and include CPAs, stockbrokers and retired military.

Nevertheless, MacQueen, president of a firm that produces tinted glass and has offices in Richmond, Hampton and Newport News, would not refer to them as status symbols in the sense that the BMW is. Llama owners tend to be "good, ethical and real people. They don't have status."

Bauer, who left a 9-to-5 job to raise llamas full time, says people acquire llamas to complement their lifestyle. Raising llamas is considered a viable alternative to farming or raising cattle. A baby female at a recent llama show brought a price of about $10,000, compared to about $400 for a baby calf, Peoples said. A top-quality llama stud went for about $128,000 in one of the several auctions that take place around the country during the year, he said.

LLamas, which can carry up to 100 pounds on their back, are rented by the day for backpacking in North Carolina.

The MacQueens entered the llama breeding business in October with two llamas borrowed from Peoples.

The impregnated female, Claire, valued at about $15,000, was shot and killed Jan. 27. The surviving male, Cappy, short for capital gains, is still roaming MacQueen's 60-acre farm on Route 612 near Route 249.

The killing shook a lot of people in llama circles, Macqueen and Peoples say, and several llama owners offered donations to create a $2,500 reward fund for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible. Despite that, the county Sheriff's Department reports no progress in the investigation.

One of MacQueen's neighbors who normally stops by to watch the peaceful animals was so upset about the killing he offered a billy goat as a companion for Cappy.

"They had a Mexican standoff for two days but they get along just fine now," MacQueen said.

The MacQueens wanted to raise animals on their large property, but MacQueen said, "We weren't interested in raising cattle, sheep or horses. When we found out people we knew had llamas, we tried it."

His wife wanted llamas because they remind her of the mythical pushmi-pullyu animals that appeared in the movie "Doctor Doolittle," MacQueen said.

Although people still stop for a closer look when they see Cappy peering over the fence, llamas are becoming less and less rare.

"(Llama ownership) is right on the edge," Bauer said. "It's still considered a novelty while at the same time is getting more and more into the mainstream."